I have some 4 month old hens in my pen that mostly just started laying (4 buff orphingtons, 2 barred rock 1 leg horn and 1 not sure hen) and i put my 2 month pullets in yesterday (3 RIR 3 americanas and 1feather footed bantam) and the big hens picked the feathers off two of my americanas today on the back at the base of the tails and left some nasty looking wounds, I watched them yesterday afternoon to be sure they would get along and they did but today was hell for my pullets. I belive it was the barred rocks that did this because of the bullying i saw happening when i got home from work, so they have been removed from the pen and put in time out.(if i prove it was them im going to eat good this weekend).

My questions are, how do i stop this, and how do i treat the wounds, they are pretty bad.

You really need to keep only chickens about the same size together, because the younger ones can't stand up for themselves if there is a big size difference. Get some blue coat, and put it on the raw spots, as well as antibiotic ointment. I would keep the two age groups separate until the little ones catch up in size. Then introduce the big ones to the younger ones, not putting the young ones in the older ones territory. Hope this helps.

They need to share a fenceline for a while before putting the new ones in with the older ones. Being in, or next to, the same space but separated by a fence gives everybody time to get used to each other. You will pretty much guarantee a nasty attack if you just pop the new ones right into an established flock.

Separate them out and keep them separate for a while until they have healed and things settle down.

separation has been completed, i am running back and forth between the computer and the coop , thanks for the fast responses. what all do i need to put on the wounds and were can i get it my options are tractor supply, drug stores, and wall-fart or target

Quote:I would try the tractor supply first, can you call them? It is spelled Blue-Kote. Good luck!!

If you can't get that I have read that you can also used watered down iodine. Wait, let me research that one...hang on...

Edited to add: OK you can use iodine. How deep are the wounds? You can use it as you would blue-kote, but if the wounds are deep you will need to water it down, so it looks like brewed tea. I read this article: http://shilala.homestead.com/woundcare.html

Yes, this happens all too often, the biggest thing when adding younger ones (which should all be the same size) is to watch for a while. And check on them often. When you separate them be sure that they can all see each other so that when you do add them when they are larger that they will already be used to each other. Its still hard to add same size newbies to an already established group but to add small one can be deadly. Good thing you got it fixed in time...they may not be alive if they were kept in there Get the blue kote on asap so the others won't start pecking at the ones with the sores which they will. GOOD LUCK! Let us know how it goes when it's time to re-add them.